The present invention relates to baling apparatus and pertains particularly to an apparatus for inserting a tag into a bale.
Identification and other tags such as information tags and the like are routinely inserted into hay bales, cotton bales, and the like. Such tagging has been found to be desirable not only to indicate the source of the contents of the bale, but to identify the source of the owner of the bale in case of theft or the like. While the present invention is described and illustrated primarily for the tagging of bales of hay, the system and principles may be utilized for the tagging and identification of any baled commodity, such as cotton, waste, paper, and other products.
It is necessary to insert tags into the bales to prevent accidental or intentional removal or alteration thereof. The insertion into the bale can insure that the tag will not be removed unless the bale is broken.
It is also desirable that the location of the tag within the bale be preselected if desired. This enables a producer to predetermine or preselect the desired position for the identification tag within his bale.
Many devices have been proposed in that past for insertion of tags into bales of hay and the like. These, however, have had a number of drawbacks including the complex and expensive manufacture thereof as well as the unreliability thereof.
For the above reasons, it is desirable that a bale tagging apparatus be available which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture yet reliable and effective in its operation.